About Almar Ashfield

Background: Born in Alkenstar from a military family, it was soon clear to everyone Almar would have followed in his father and grandfather's footsteps becoming a Shieldmarshal for the Duchy. As his forebears before him Almar showed exceptional aptitude for fighting with firearms and melee weapons both.
Becoming a shieldmarshal is usually a lenghty and difficult task, but Almar was able to get into the ranks pretty quickly, graduating at 18. He asked to be assigned to patrol the Alkenstar - Nex border, and this was garanted. He was sent to patrol the zone near Cloureaver Keep with a seasoned shieldmarshal named Koras Terth as his companion. Almar's first year of service was spotless, he distinguished himself in several missions, catching smugglers and sending many unsavory things creeping out of the wastes back to their creator. Al of this changed when Almar and Koras were sent to deal with the "carrion crows", a band of outlaws operating intra-border, held responsable for robbing caravans from nex to Alkenstar and enslaving their crews. It wasn't easy but, after several weeks of fruitless chasing, the two shieldmarshals were able to track the crows and follow them to their base, after their last hit on a spice caravan. They reached the outlaw camp near midnight. It appeared the outlaws were forcing the people from the caravan to enter some ruins, and as almost all the outlaws began descending after them, it was clear something was going on.
Koras recomended caution, retreating and coming back in forces but the young Almar felt full of confidence and decided to sneak into the encampment and then in the ruins, to discover what was going on. He overpowered the few sentries left and gained access to the ruins. There he saw the outlaw chief, a pale man with oriental features garbed in black robes sacrificing the last remaining slaves upon a crude basalt altar, while his followers chanted in a strange language whose words hurt as thousand of needles. Meanwhile a crimson gem positioned behind the man in black increased its brightness after each sacrifice. Clearly magic was at work, although it shouldn't have been possible inside Alkenstar borders.
At that point Almar decided to try to stop whatever was happening: he was outnumbered 20 to 1 but allowing these knaves to kill more innocent people went against everything he believed in. He sprang into action, guns blazing: a couple of outlaws fell under his fire but he was soon forced to retreat resorting to his rapier to keep his enemies at bay. When an outlaw managed to bypass his guard Almar felt sure he was going to die, but the stab he was waiting for never landed. A gunshot took care of his assaliant as Koras joined the fray. Taken aback by the new threat the outlaws staggered, and tried to retreat giving Almar the oportunity to press his attack on. Meanwhile the man in black had finished sacrificing people. Almar had only of a brief glimple of him reaching for the gem shining crimson behind him... then the world exploded in pain. Alamar never knew what happened: he could rememember only feeling a huge weight on his chest and pain. When he opened his eyes he saw Koras laying on him and staring to the floor with dead eyes. Desperate and full of guilt, Almar regained his feet. He was among a scene of carnage: everyone, including the "carrion crows" was dead. The only one missing was the man in black. Somehow Koras had saved him from the gem, but he had paid dearly for his heroism, and now Almar was left with the shame of failure and the knowledge his rash actions had costed his partner his life. Suddenly Almar felt like he was undeserving of the honor of being a shieldmarshal of Alkenstar. All he was was an arrogant pup who had costed a true hero of the Duchy his life. Almar knew he had failed and nothing he could do could bring his friend back. Even so he also knew the man in black was somewhere, escaping with his prize, and someone had tos top him, exacting revenge for all the lives he had claimed. So, after burying Koras, Almar gave chase. he followed the man in black through half of Garund and then half of Avistan. No matter how quickly he went, the man in black was always a step away from him. Several times Alamr believed he reached his pray only to discover he went away just a few hours before him. Desperation and loath were Almar new companions. In the town of Trunau, in the region called the hold of Belkzen Almar learned the man in black travelled disguised as a merchant and had joined a caravan meant for the varisian city of sandpoint and then for the east. Almar did the same, joining the caravan lead by Sandru Vishki as an hired guard. Although Almar hoped to finally catch his prey in Sandpoint he was disappointed once again: the man in black and his caravan had left for the east some days before. Fortunately Sandru and his caravan had the same journey before them. As he liked the man, and being wary of the risks of travelling alone Almar decided to stay with the caravan, at least untill he could catch the man in black.

Personality: Almar is taciturn and reserved, he tends to weight his words and doesn't talk much. He can be talkative and brilliant if he thinks it to be important for his own goals, like getting someone to spill important informations on his target, otherwise he keeps mostly to himself, and doesn't come to trust other people easily, although when it happens he can't avoid caring for them (which may be the reason he doesn't want ties... considering his past). The fact he befriended Sandru and feels he can trust him has come as a surprise to Almar himself.

Appearance: Almar is a tall man with black hair and a comely face. He usually seems half shaved although he doesn't allow his facial hair to develop in a true beard. His eyes are black and is stare usually cold and unflinching. He's got a lean phisique with a well developed musculature. He wears travelling clothes of brown and dark undertones, and a matching large brim hat.

Character development: I think I'll try to keep Almar as a single class gunslinger although I may be forced to take a level or two of fighter for more feats. As for those I mean to take some more grit feats and feats that increase shooting ability (stuff like deadly aim, point blank shot, far shot, etc)